[mkjelenbaas]

Originally Posted by Michael G.

There are retired people from all over the nation that settled down in The Villages, some snowbirds, and some full-time residence.

My question is: "What's your story that brought to TV, and why not other areas in Florida?"

Cheers!

We came down 75 and got off the expressway at the Wildwood exit and went East on 44. Hope that helps you?

[Michael G.]

Originally Posted by mkjelenbaas

We came down 75 and got off the expressway at the Wildwood exit and went East on 44. Hope that helps you?

Thanks that helps a lot
I been stuck up here in Gainsville since last week, confused and lonely and you help me get home.

[Shadowrider]

Used to come to visit Brother in law in inverness. We always ended up in TV for something. I decided then that this is where I wanted to retire. Toledo to Indiana to Maryland to The Villages

[IndianaJones]

Grew up down here - used to be mostly watermelons & wild boar in this area. When my better half insisted we retire & move back to FL, I said, “No problem! Back to Ft. Lauderdale we go!” Uh, nope - she had another idea (heard about TV from a relative) - guess who won? So here we are - yay!

[giorgio1948]

Originally Posted by Michael G.

There are retired people from all over the nation that settled down in The Villages, some snowbirds, and some full-time residence.

My question is: "What's your story that brought to TV, and why not other areas in Florida?"

Cheers!

Hurricane IRMA blew us up here from Key West.

[noslices1]

Originally Posted by Michael G.

There are retired people from all over the nation that settled down in The Villages, some snowbirds, and some full-time residence.

My question is: "What's your story that brought to TV, and why not other areas in Florida?"

Cheers!

Retired in January, 2010 in Southern California. Two weeks later started a 7500 mile drive around the country looking for somewhere other than CA to retire to. Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, all the way to Florida to visit my brother. After a week or so there, we drove ip to TV to look around. Took the bus tour and liked what I saw. Continued my drive up the coast to DC and Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nevada and back to CA by June. Spent a month cleaning and fixing anything wrong with my townhouse and put it on the market. Sold in three days, so I went online to the Villages real estate website and checked out all the preowned homes and found one I liked. Called the salesperson I had talked to when I was here and made an offer. Too low, but there was already an offer, but contingent on selling a home in Canada. I made another offer, lower than the Canadian, but no contingency and it was accepted. My townhouse closed in 20 days, had my furniture and everything else picked up the day of the closing and got back in my car and headed for Florida. About 500 miles a day and arrived on a Tuesday morning, closed at around 10:00 am and got the keys to my new home. Slept on an air mattress for a week until my stuff arrived. Played a couple thousand rounds of golf since them.

[celiarw]

Living in Chicagoland made us decide to be snowbirds upon retirement. We visited Phoenix for 3 days touring the Del Webb communities, then took another trip to Austin, Tx to the Del Webb north of Austin. Our next trip was to The Villages (friends lived here) and then south Florida to the bundled golf communities around Naples. We bought here in 2013 but hadn't sold the "big" house yet so rented the unfurnished house for the first 17 months. Came down the fall of 2015, furnished but ended up renting it Jan - Feb of 2016. Sold the big house and the rest is history! Love being here!

[tedquick]

I was in real estate for 41 years in Omaha. I had two sets of former clients and present-day friends who had moved to The Villages (I also used to see TV advertised on the tvs as I worked out at the gym). My late mother-in-law lived in Lakeland, FL and I had visited many times so I knew that because of the heat and humidity that I could never live in FL. In any case, the friends who had moved here invited us down just for fun. To see them we came down late one spring, however all the time knowing that I would/could never live here. The end of the second day, riding around on one of their golf carts, I looked at my wife and said that if I ever retire this is where I wanted to live.

We’ve been here since 2014.

[Bay Kid]

Dad brought Mom, who has dementia, to a rental by Sumter Landing every winter. In 2013 Mom didn't want to go so I told her I would come with them for a few days. 2 days here I fell in love with TVs. Went back home, sold a waterfront lot and came straight back. I found my home before their rental was over. I have been a seasonal resident ever since. I haven't brought the parents back in a couple of years because of covid, but I still take care of Mom after over 15 years of this dreadful disease.

[birdiebill]

My wife and I grew up in Indiana. After college and dental school I entered military service, liked dental practice in the military and stayed as a career. After many assignments in southern states and Hawaii, retired from the military to Olympia, WA where we had a home after being stationed at Ft. Lewis.

After four years of returning to Olympia, our parents in Indiana developed health concerns, so we moved back to Indiana in 2001. For years we took trips to the Hilton Head area of South Carolina where our older son worked as a golf pro at a resort at Hilton Head and then a head pro at a small club off island. He now works in IT at the Marine Corps air station. After many trips there and liking the restaurants, golf, warmth of the winter compared to Indiana, we started looking seriously at Del Webb Sun City Hilton Head as a place to move to once our parents were gone. As an aside we had no children or grandchildren in Indiana.

Once the parents had passed, we came to Florida in January of 2016 for a cruise in Ft. Lauderdale preceded by a week in Orlando. We drove down because I wanted to have my own car for traveling around. Two days before we were to leave Indiana, a winter storm was forecast for Nashville, TN, Chattanooga, TN and Atlanta to include snow and ice. We left a day prior to the storm so as to beat the wintery weather. That meant we had to find a place to spend a day prior to getting our place in Orlando. So I suggested we spend it at this retirement community called the Villages.

We spent Friday night at the Hampton Inn and all day Saturday driving around Morse, Lake Sumter Landing, Brownwood, and looking at the open houses of new homes that were being built in Labelle. As a golfer I was mesmerized by the golf courses at Mallory, Havana and Volusia executive as we drove south on Morse. Of course I did not know much about the courses yet. After our week in Orlando and our cruise, as we were driving back north, as we passed the exit from I-75 to Wildwood, I suggested we rent for a month so we could learn everything pertinent comparing The Villages to Sun City Hilton Head.

We spent May of 2016 in a rental in the Village of Bonita; it took three days to decide we wanted to move here instead of Bluffton/Beaufort SC. It would be warmer in the winter; it was inland to minimize the risk from hurricanes; we did our due diligence and have not been surprised by anything other than the continued rapid growth. Also we had access to swimming pools year around, ballroom dancing, golf, shopping by golf cart, driving around by golf cart, regular entertainment indoors and out, and multiple social clubs that a person could be involved, and most importantly found a church we dearly love.

We are happy here and can not think of another place we would want to live. The Covid Pandemic has messed up our lifestyle and medical issues have cramped it even further. During 2021wife had breast cancer and I have developed a bone marrow cancer with no cure. Being immunocrompromised, I can not risk being exposed to any infections, whether it be flu, common cold, Covid, etc. Which means no indoor activities, no eating inside restaurants, no shopping without wearing masks, no attending church in person, no activities where we can not socially distance. But we feel we are getting good medical care, so why go some where else.

[MrFlorida]

We had friends that lived here............Came for a visit and drank the cool aid.

[OhioBuckeye]

We were introduced to TV by a family member from Harbour Hills. Like someone reminded me & my comment recently, we no longer live there because we thought one of our children were more important. But that’s OK because I think they thought I didn’t know what was going on there. But really that’s OK!

[davem4616]

we had a second home in Fort Lauderdale, which we remodeled and intended to move into full time when we retired....we did that, after two years the traffic was such a challenge that when iguanas moved in and started eating my tomato plants, I said let's get the hell out of here....

We looked up along the eastern seaboard...some really nice 55+ communities, but not for us

Finally came to visit a cousin in TV and put money down on a home that weekend....but we knew what we were looking for and we were ready

[DaleDivine]

Originally Posted by Garywt

Friends of ours did the search around Florida and ended up buying in The Villages. It was surprising to us up north. We had never heard of the Villages and had never really thought of living down south. Our friends invited us down for a visit and we spent a week, then another week and after many weeks and a ton of open houses we figured we could buy something. We pulled our finances together, found the house we wanted and bought in March 2019. We only get down 4-6 weeks a year but we love it.

Similar situation with my wife and I. We visited my former boss in 2012 for a week and I loved it here. I played golf every day except rain in Virginia and thought this was a golfers paradise. Came back for another week when our grand daughter was born in Jax. and stayed with our friends. I told my wife we had to move because we lived in a two story house and she was having back issues. I said we're moving to The Villages but she didn't want to move. Welllll, I said I'm moving and taking the dogs. She said no but finally gave in. In February 2014 Our friends found us a CYV because my wife said a fenced in yard was a stipulation on us moving here. Put a down payment on it while 4 other couples were waiting in line to get it if we didn't. Now she loves it here and wished we had found out about this place 10 years earlier.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

I lived in Florida one summer after college, and absolutely hated it. The only redeeming quality it had, was that my grandparents lived there. Then my parents moved here. Grandparents have since passed away. So half the incentive to be in this horrible state in the first place.

Then, met and married husband. Lived happily, paying our state income tax, paying our high property tax, having pension add up and savings account getting modestly larger every year. Visited people who moved to the Villages, I hated Florida even more (the friends were still great, pretty house on the inside, but it was a courtyard villa and the entire area was just WAY too borg/sardine can/stepford for my taste.) Just being in that area of the Villages gave me the creeps. Husband fell in love with it.

After a few years he decreed we would retire to the Villages and if I didn't go with him he'd miss me.

I love my husband more than I hate Florida.

I still hate Florida.

I'm okay with my "neighborhood" of the Villages, it's more neighborly than any other that we've visited/driven into. But I still miss New England and probably always will.